The collection of Frederick Philbrick with
essays and trial prints for the creation of the
"Penny Black"

Dr. Andreas Hahn

1 March 2008

Introduction

About five years ago the Archive for Philately of the "Museumsstiftung Post and Telecommunikation" in Bonn published for the first time an extensive illustrated catalogue with items from its archives entitled "Schätze der Philatelie" (Philatelic Treasures).

Valuables, rarities, curiosa, historical and amusing items were selected, not only to inspire philatelists, but also to capture the imagination of the interested public and to acquaint them with the rich holdings of the Museum, as well as with the many facets of Philately.

In the course of preparation for the book we found a simple, unmarked blue album in the store which contained a very interesting collection of essays and designs regarding the creation of the "Penny Black" as well as the first British stamps and postal stationery. The origin of the collection was at first completely unknown, but a small card inside the album carried a label from the "Internationales Postwerthzeichen - Museum" which had existed for several years at the end of the 19th century in Vienna. This clue allowed us to identify the collection as a part of the extensive collections of Frederick A. Philbrick, which he had sold in 1882 to the legendary collector Ferrary. Ferrary himself had no interest in essays and drawings; therefore he donated the essay collection regarding the first stamp in the world to the stamp dealer Siegmund Friedl in Vienna, who exhibited the collection for several years in a private museum. Further research revealed that after the closing of the private "Internationales Postwerthzeichen - Museum" in Vienna the "Reichspostmuseum" (Imperial Postal Museum) in Berlin bought the Philbrick essay collection for its philatelic collection. In 1944 due to the increasingly more devastating bombardments of Berlin and other cities in Germany, the holdings of the museum in Berlin were removed and stored in an underground mine at Eisleben. In 1945 they were transported by American troops first to Marburg, later to Wiesbaden. Eventually the last relocation was to Bonn in 1950. Since then the philatelic collections of the "German Reich" have been in their permanent home and are now being continued as the "Archiv für Philatelie" (Philatelic Archive). All remaining traces of the Philbrick collection had by then been lost. Only in 2003 were the first items from this collection published with the "selection catalogue" from the Archive's holdings, and a connection with Philbrick was then re-established.

About two years ago I received a phone call from Mr Karl Louis. He introduced himself as a specialist in Great Britain and in particular the Victorian issues, and he told me that during a visit to Berlin he had acquired our catalogue. He showed great interest in the Philbrick essays and carefully asked if there were more of them in the archives. After receiving my answer "a whole album full" it was only a few days before he personally came and inspected the collection with great enthusiasm. With his great knowledge and expertise in this field Mr Karl Louis helped us better to describe and catalogue the material. Finally, during another visit, we were able to present him another interesting find that we had made earlier in the archives. In a simple brown envelope with a handwritten note on it "Groß Britannien" we had found complete specimen sheets of the stamps in use in Great Britain in 1849 as well as several paper samples.

Karl Louis immediately realised the connection with this discovery and an official inquiry by the Prussian postal service to the Royal Mail of 1849, and he realised especially the great historical value of the perforated sheet which was included. He identified this as having "Archer" perforation. The newly discovered material complemented the Philbrick collection perfectly and the two discoveries were shown together in an exhibit at Bad Reichenhall during the German and Austrian "Day of Philately" in 2006.

A short time later Theo Brauers, the spokesperson for the Forschungsgemeinschaft Grossbritannien in the Bund Deutscher Philatelisten contacted me. The Forschungsgemeinschaft reviewed the material at a meeting in Bonn and suggested the publication of a book on it together with the "Museumsstiftung Post und Telekommunikation". I gladly accepted this offer not only due to the expertise and knowledge the Forschungsgemeinschaft would contribute, but also for the generous financial support that was included. This publication would not have been possible without the financial support, as well as the intensive and constructive cooperation of the "Forschungsgemeinschaft Grossbritannien", and for that I thank them as well as their spokesperson Theo Brauers very much.

I would also like to thank the companies of Corinphila in Zurich and Heinrich Koehler in Wiesbaden who by the dedication of Mr Karl Louis generously supported this project financially as well as preparing and arranging the printing of this publication. Both companies also facilitated through their generous support the one-of-a-kind presentation of the collection at the Royal Philatelic Society in London in March 2008. The "Stiftung zur Förderung der Philatelie und Postgeschichte" (Fund for the Promotion of Philately and Postal History) also gave financial support for the printing of the book. For this support my thanks go out to the Fund, especially to Dieter Hartig, the President of the BDPh.

My thanks do not only include financial supporters but are extended to all who have contributed in any way to the success of this enterprise. Douglas Muir, the curator of Philately for the British Postal Museum & Archive, has reviewed the collection during his visit to Germany together with myself and added countless references and additions; he has also corrected errors made in describing the material. I am very grateful for his selfless and friendly support. I also want to mention the family of Tonya and Thomas Rhein as well as Philip Robinson FRPSL of Sheffield, who translated the texts into English and made corrections. Finally I want to thank all the unnamed helpers and sup- porters who were involved in this joint project of the "Museumsstiftung Post und Telekommunikation" (Museum fund for Post and Telecommunications) and the Forschungsgemeinschaft Grossbritannien. They have all allowed us, for the first time, to make these rare documents from the early history of stamps accessible to a broader public in the form of this publication.

Andreas Hahn Archiv für Philatelie, Bonn (Museumsstiftung Post und Telekommunikation)

The collection of Frederick Philbrick

Frederick Adolphus Philbrick was born on 30 June 1835, the son of the lawyer Frederick B. Philbrick, in Colchester, Essex (Great Britain). He followed in his father's footsteps by studying law, and embarked on a career in London, where he first qualified as a lawyer and later was appointed a judge. His successful legal practice soon allowed him to follow his philatelic passion. Philbrick was able to invest large financial assets and in due course was able to build up one of the largest and most important stamp collections of its time.

As early as the mid-1850s, about 15 years after the introduction of postage stamps in Great Britain, Philbrick came into contact with Philately. In 1869 he was one of the founders of the "Philatelic Society, London" (later the "Royal Philatelic Society London") becoming its first Vice-President and he headed the Society as its President from 1872 to 1892.

Therefore it is not surprising that Philbrick, as one of the determining figures of early philatelic organisations, was able to include material from the very earliest period of stamps in his collections. These collections exhibited wide variety and great quality of material. It was not only the stamps of Great Britain that became the focus of his interest, but he was also able to establish impressive collections of the areas of the "Confederate States of America", "Mauritius", "Hawaii", "British Guiana" and "Australian Colonies". In common with many early philatelists he was also very interested in essays, proofs and trial prints, and for the world's first stamp, the "Penny Black" of 1840 he was able to gather together a unique collection of material. For this his close contact with Pearson Hill was certainly very helpful. Pearson Hill was not only the son of the postal reformer Sir Rowland Hill, who was responsible for the introduction of stamps, but he himself was also employed by the postal service. Pearson Hill, who incidentally also developed the first cancelling machine, had, through his father as well as through his own position access to rare and authentic material, which he very probably passed on to Philbrick as well. Overall, Philbrick's collection may be regarded as the most complete of its time in Great Britain and possibly as a collection of the highest quality worldwide.

Among Philbrick's many collections, the one which stands out is that which he built up around the first stamp of the world, the "Penny Black". It was also the basis for an important book which he published during his presidency together with William A.S. Westoby. "The Postage and Telegraph Stamps of Great Britain" was a ground-breaking and detailed catalogue that was considered the most reliable source for many years. Philbrick, who according to contemporary reports must have been a strong and impressive personality, was known for his expert knowledge and he became one of the most influential figures in early British Philately.

In 1882 Philbrick sold his almost complete collections to the much renowned collector, Philipp la Renotière von Ferrary. He included them in his own very extensive collection, making it the most important philatelic collection of its time in the world. Ferrary, who was descended from a Genoese patrician family, had a distinct taste (and enormous financial resources) that allowed him to acquire the special, rare and often very beautiful stamps and covers that he wanted. His collections, which also included an important coin collection, were housed in the "Palais Matignon" in Paris.

Ferrary, who concentrated on collecting stamps, never seemed to have an interest in essays, proofs and trial prints etc. . Therefore he had no further use for that part of Philbrick's collection which focused on these aspects of the first British stamps; it was never integrated into his collection and remained untouched.

When in 1887 Ferrary visited his friend Sigmund Friedl, a stamp dealer of Vienna, Austria and founder of the private "Internationales Postwerthzeichen-Museum" in Vienna (Unter-Doebling), he was impressed with the initiative of Friedl and donated to the young museum the essay collection of Philbrick. Friedl immediately recognised the important historical value of this collection and exhibited it for several years in his villa where it could be admired by knowledgeable visitors during the opening hours of the museum. With the closing of Friedl's Museum, Ferrary received his Philbrick essay collection back, and he later sold it to the Berlin Imperial Postal Museum. When in 1882 Philipp la Renotière von Ferrary, also known as the "King of Stamps", acquired the largest part of the collections of his British collector friend Frederick A. Philbrick, his own collection had already become legendary. The reason for this achievement was not only his almost maniacal passion for collecting, but also the enormous financial resources available to him. Ferrary was descended from a well known Genoese patrician family. His father was the Marchese (Duke) Raffaele de Ferrari (1803 - 1876), who achieved legendary wealth as a finance magnate and a financier of railways. Philipp la Renotière von Ferrary was born in 1850 in Paris, where his parents lived most of the time. His relationship with his father was overshadowed by such great tension that he was never able to use the title of Duke which he was at liberty to use. In 1886 he asked to be adopted by a former Austrian officer and from then on he used the name "la Renotière" and changed his own name from "de Ferrari" to "von Ferrary".

Not only after the death of his parents with the enormous inheritance that this brought him, Ferrary already had access to enormous wealth, which enabled him to gather what was undisputedly the largest stamp collection of all time, and of the highest quality then known. His collection included almost every world rarity, and of many of them he had not only one, but several examples. In Paris a designated group of specialists was employed to catalogue and care for the constantly growing stamp collection which was, like his outstanding coin collection, housed in the splendid Palais Matignon.

Ferrary could by all means have been considered an eccentric figure, since he was able financially to support his eccentricity. Not only was his relationship with his father tense, but also his relationship with France, the country where he was born and where he lived for many years, was almost a hostile one. On the other hand he cultivated a deep respect and love for Austria and Germany when he talked for example of "his burning love for his German fatherland". His decision to donate the superfluous (to him) Philbrick essay collection to Sigmund Friedl's "Internationales Postwerthzeichen - Museum" in Vienna was probably not only based on his enthusiasm for Friedl's museum project, but more than likely could have been a demonstrative "proAustria" gesture. Even more clearly visible was his love for Germany as exem- plified by his will in which he leaves almost his entire philatelic collection to the German Empire ("to be housed in the Berlin Postal Museum"). However, that part of his collection concerned with Great Britain and its colonies he had planned to give to the British Museum.

With his death in 1917 during the First World War, his collections in Paris were seized by the French government and later sold in a number of spectacular auctions (the profits were used towards the German reparation account). The most important private stamp collection ever formed was therefore dispersed all over the world.

As it seems that Philipp la Renotière von Ferrary had no use for the Philbrick essay collection, he had decided in September 1887 to donate it to the "Internationales Postwerthzeichen - Museum", which had been established by Sigmund Friedl in Vienna.

Friedl, who was a well known stamp dealer in Vienna, had established a deep friendship with Ferrary that went beyond business. With great business acumen he furthered his commercial interests not only through the philatelic newspapers and magazines that he founded and published, such as the "Wiener Illustrierte Briefmarken-Zeitung" and "Welt-Post". He also established the "Internationales Postwerthzeichen - Museum", in Unter-Doebling near Vienna for which "Welt Post" acted as a promoter. The museum itself was established in a villa which also housed the living quarters of Friedl (and his office?) as well as the editorial offices of the "Welt-Post" (no.3). According to his own accounts Friedl founded the Museum in 1883 and had its grand opening in the same year, on the occasion of the birthday of Emperor Franz Joseph I (18 August). The first of the benefactors mentioned by Friedl who enriched (or even established) the museum's holdings were: "Philipp la Renotière von Ferrary", followed by several postal administrations and other private donors. Over the years, in several issues of "Welt-Post", reports of a number of additional donations by Ferrary to the "museum" were published that indicate that many donations were of substantial value and included in- teresting individual items and collections.

The general plan of the "museum" cleverly combined museum displays with material for sale and classical philatelic exhibits. Besides the donations which were supposed to form the financial basis of the museum, an excerpt from the "museum regulations" published in 1885 gave some insight into the practices of the establishment. In addition to the permanent displays of the museum's own material, it was possible to show private stamp collections and (with payment to Friedl) also sell these. The collections on display had to be open for public viewing for at least one month and were insured during that time. One can also assume that Friedl himself used this forum to sell his own material in the museum, bearing in mind that "Welt-Post" mainly contained Friedl's own advertisements.

Bericht über die Schenkung Ferraris an das "Internationale Postwerthzeichen- Museum" ("Welt-Post" vom Oktober 1887) Report of Ferrary's donation to the "Internationales Postwerthzeichen - Museum" ("Welt-Post", October 1887)

Friedl mentioned in "Welt-Post', as a very significant event, the visit by Ferrary in September 1887 during which Ferrary offered the museum as a donation "a large collection of British essays, proofs and trials which are of inestimable value". Friedl proudly quoted Ferrary as saying that the exhibit in the "Internationales Postwerthzeichen - Museum" in Vienna "far exceeds that of the German Reichspost Museum".

Shortly after this, Friedl came under suspicion in connection with faked "Mercur" Stamps, which he at least sold (if not even ordered to be made). His reputation as a dealer was ruined and the museum had to be closed and dissolved in 1896. Friedl's business had been liquidated shortly before this.

In 1872, under the leadership of Postmaster-General Heinrich von Stephan, a plan was formulated for a "Reichspostmuseum" in Berlin, and this was housed appropriately in the building of the "Reichspost" in Leipziger Street. Contributing to the content of the museum were the philatelic collections that were exhibited from 1880 onwards in the Stamp Room in the "Reichspostmuseum" and they were skilfully extended by careful acquisitions. In particular, a scholarly expert in this field, the regional court judge Carl Lindenberg, helped as adviser during the extension of the collection and the acquisition of many rarities. It was also he who gave Ferrary a guided tour through the Berlin museum, with which Ferrary was so impressed that in 1915 he willed almost his entire collection to the German Reich to be included in the Reichspostmuseum.

After Ferrrary's death in 1917 the events of World War I prevented the fulfilment of his will. His collection, which was still in Paris at that time, was scattered all over the world. Yet the Philbrick essay collection and a small collection of essays of other areas had been sold to the museum by Ferrary before his death, probably even as a direct result of his visit to the museum. After the disappointing end of Friedl's "Internationales Postwerthzeichen - Museum" in Vienna, Ferrary must have received his donation back and passed it on to an institution that promised greater durability.

Reichspostmuseum in Berlin (Foto um 1900; heute "Museum für Kommunikation") The Reichspostmuseum in Berlin (photo taken around 1900; today the Museum for Communications)

Since that time the Philbrick collection has never been exhibited nor worked on, and eventually knowledge of its existence was lost. During World War II together with other collections of the "Imperial postage stamp collection" the Philbrick collection was moved out of Berlin, and undertook a long Odyssey. At first, most of the collections were stored in the safes of the Berlin Reichsbank and the Vienna Savings Bank. With the closing in of the Allied armies on Germany it was planned to move the collections from Vienna to Dresden. After the devastating air raid on Dresden the collection was moved to Eisleben and stored together with the collections from Berlin in the underground mines of the "Mansfeldschen Kupferschieferbergbau AG". During the occupation by American troops from 13 April 1945, American troops as well as locals were able to access the depots. During this time some of the most valuable material disappeared, for example the famous Mauritius rarities. Before the area was, according to the agreements, handed over to the Soviet occupying forces American troops transported the remaining collections to Marburg. Later, in 1948 they were handed over to the State of Hessen and one year later handed over to the head office for Post and Communications in the newly founded Federal Republic of Germany. Ever since then the Philbrick collection has been stored, virtually unknown, within the archive which was first administered by the German postal service as the "Archive for Stamps" and for several years has now continued as the "Archive of Philately" in the "Museumsstiftung Post und Telekommunikation" in Bonn. During the course of recent work for the preparation of a catalogue of the Archives in 2002 the Philbrick collection was rediscovered and reconnected to the name Frederick Adolphus Philbrick.